Mary Sanderson, freshman violin performance major, has been a musician her entire life.
“Music has always been part of my life. I come from a very musical family. My three siblings and I are all violinists! We became violinists after my oldest brother started violin. Music is just what my family does,” Sanderson said.
Sanderson and a selected few University of Wyoming students will get an opportunity to flex their musical chops on Thursday at the biennial Dorothy Jacoby Student Soloist Competition.
The six contestants will be performing solo pieces with the accompaniment of the University’s Symphony Orchestra. The winner will receive a considerable cash prize.
Director of Orchestral Activities Michael T. Griffith made it clear during the audition process that the prize is not the prime motivator in entering this competition.
“Even though there is a cash prize, we try to make it clear that just getting to play with the orchestra accompanying you is a very big deal,” Griffith said.
Each contestant went through an arduous audition process that started with each student’s respective teacher accepting their entry into the event, Griffith said. After the initial acceptance, judges were brought in to begin a long audition process that stretched throughout an entire day, until eventually the six performers were selected.
These performers range from trumpet players to vocal performers and freshmen to graduate students.
Ariana Hahl, a junior vocal performance major, knew from the time she was in junior high that she wanted to sing. Hahl was put into the spotlight at a veterans assembly when her school’s choir was not prepared.
“I was extremely nervous, but once I was done singing I knew right away that singing was the only thing I would ever want to do,” Hahl said.
Stephen Wadsack, a senior music education major, grew up in a musical household, which inspired him to pursue a musical career of his own.
“Growing up at home, I had parents that both valued music and its prominent role in the household. Although neither of my parents chose music as their career, they still always had the radio on in the house or a CD playing.”
Wadsack favors the trumpet “due to its unique sound and versatility.”
“I also liked the way the trumpet sounded; beautiful and clear, but also capable of playing loudly with a powerful core to the sound,” Wadsack said.
The privilege of performing with the Symphony Orchestra has not been lost on the performers. Michael Peterson, a senior music performance major, said, “I know that there is a cash prize for the competition, but I’m really most excited to have the opportunity to play with a full orchestra. It’s an opportunity that not a lot of people get to do until later in their careers.”
“This concert means a lot to me since this concert is any music students’ dream stage,” Sarah Kim, a second-year masters student studying piano performance, said. “This is such a rare opportunity to play with Orchestra. I am very very grateful.”
The selection of pieces came naturally for some musicians.
“The Mendelssohn violin concerto is my favorite,” Sanderson said. “Musicians are like actors and have to pretend to be saying what the composer wrote, but I don’t have to act when I’m playing ‘Mendelssohn.’”
Cheng Wang, a piano performance major, said, “I believe every pianist wants to play ‘Rachmaninov Concerto No. 3’ with the orchestra, this piece is a dream for all pianists. This piece has the hardest technique but very beautiful, the song is like a melody.”
The performance is tonight at 7:30 p.m. in the BCPA Concert Hall.
